M7Ranch: The Fight
by chronicler-of-knuckles
Summary: Vin gets into a fight. No surprise? J.D. did too. Only a little surprise? Josiah did too...


TITLE: The Fight  
  
AUTHOR: The Chronicler  
  
RATING: PG -- L  
  
UNIVERSE: M7Ranch  
  
CHALLENGE: Supposed to be W.O.W. 04-08-04 -- ULTIMATUM, but I got into the writing and 15 minutes turned into 32. Sorry  
  
SUMMARY: Vin gets into a fight. No surprise? J.D. did too. Only a little surprise? Josiah did too...   
  
ARCHIVE: Sure thingy.  
  
FEEDBACK: Yes, please.  
  
EMAIL: chronicler_of_knuckles@yahoo.com  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The Fight  
  
By The Chronicler  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Fist hit nose with such explosive force it was difficult to remember that these bare knuckles duelist were only two small boys.  
  
"You got 'im now, Vin!" J.D. cheered from the sidelines.  
  
"You shut up!" snapped a boy J.D.'s age sporting the same red curls and big ears as Vin's opponent.   
  
J.D. glared at him. "No, you shut up!" he snapped back.  
  
"You shut up!" was the instant response.  
  
"NO! YOU!"   
  
A second fight would have erupted right then and there if not for the fight already in progress crashing between the two.  
  
When they landed, Vin had ended up under the bigger boy.  
  
Taking full advantage of his weight, the redhead straddled Vin, bouncing hard on his chest, forcing the air from his lungs. As soon as he heard the exhale, he wrapped his thick, meaty fingers around Vin's throat, halting any chance the smaller boy might have had of refilling his lungs.  
  
"Now who's got who?" hooted the younger redhead. "Ma brother's gonna twist that Injun's head right off! Yes, sir!"  
  
J.D. started as if to smack the other boy, but stopped when he glanced at his own brother.   
  
Vin's face was turning blue, his eyes squeezed shut. He was gulping, trying to find just one mouth full of air. His fingers clawed weakly at the seemingly unbreakable grip around his neck.  
  
"Vin?" J.D. whispered, realizing that he just might twist Vin's head off. He stepped toward the combatants. "Hey!: he yelled. "You're gonna hurt 'im!"  
  
"That's the idee." snickered the elder redhead, pressing down even harder on his victim's throat.  
  
"Stop it!" J.D. screamed. "Let 'im go!" he rushed forward, but the elder released one hand just long enough to back hand him. J.D. was slammed back against the fence that ran along the back of the alley.  
  
Instantly the younger red head jumped on him, slamming him against the fence, then pushing him to the ground.  
  
J.D. had no time to react when the other boy began to kick and punch him. Stunned, hurt, and scared, all he could do was curl up in a ball to try and protect himself from the blows, crying out.  
  
Vin felt his world began to fade away in a haze. His chest felt as if it was on fire, his throat turned inside out. He was losing, he knew. Getting into a fight was bad enough, losing was worse... but he wasn't just losing; he was in some serious trouble. And he could do nothing about it but fall back into that mind numbing blackness.  
  
But then there was a far off cry.  
  
His dazed mind leaped with recognition. `J.D.? What was wrong with J.D.? have to get to J.D.... and this damn redhead was in the freakin' way!'  
  
Suddenly clear, gray eyes snapped open. Clamping his hands together, Vin brought them up, slamming his fists into his opponent's lower chin, snapping his jaw shut. Then he threw his arms apart with such force, it knocked loose the hold on his neck.  
  
As the red head fell forward, Vin kicked up with all his might, sending him up and over his head.  
  
Once free, Vin rocked, flipping to his feet. He spun about, searching for his brother.   
  
Vincent Tanner had been angry many times in his young life, most of the time because of his half 'n' half heritage. But never had anything ever enraged him more than the sight of that damn brat beating on J.D., his baby brother.  
  
With an animalistic snarl, Vin lunged forward, fist swinging about.  
  
"Gordo! Look out!" the elder redhead called to his own brother.  
  
The little redhead jumped back, just barely missing Vin's fist.   
  
Vin cursed as his fist hit and broke hard fence planks rather than his original target. But he didn't waste any time on his bloody knuckles as he spun about, glaring down Gordo, who quickly backed away.   
  
The elder redhead, Morgon, grabbed his brother's arm and dragged him behind him.  
  
Standing over little J.D., who had pushed himself up into a sitting position and rubbing at his bruises and cuts, Vin snarled at the brothers "Don't! You! Eve'! Touch! Him!"   
  
Wiping the back of his hand across his blood nose, Morgon chuckled. "What? That whimpering little baby? Shoulda left 'im home in the cradle!"  
  
"Shut up!" J.D. managed to snap between sniffs, and tiny fists rubbing at his eyes.  
  
"You shut up!" Gordo snapped back from behind the protection of his big brother.   
  
"Don't waste your breath, Gordy." huffed Morgon. "Jus' 'remember what they are: bastards."  
  
"Am not!" J.D. yelled, though he really wasn't sure what the word meant.  
  
"Are too!" Gordo was quick to throw back. "If ya ain't where's your mamma? Huh?"  
  
J.D. flinched.   
  
Vin stepped in front of him. "His mama's dead! So you leave him alone."  
  
""course she's dead." Gordo laughed. "Who'd wanna hang 'round wit' a cry baby like that. Probably the only way she could up an' leave his worthless..."  
  
"Shut up!" Vin roared when he felt J.D.'s little hands snatch at his leg. "J.D. had a good mamma, an' she loved him."  
  
"She was a whore!" Morgon snapped back. "So was yours. Worse, yours was stinkin' squaw whore. Jus' like all those other whores your ol' man bedded... 'cept none o' them were smart enough to get paid fer their night's work."   
  
Morgon and Gordo's laughter was cut short when they realized Vin was lunging at them.   
  
But Vin never reached them. He was grabbed by the scruff of the neck in mid leap.   
  
"An' what is this?" snarled a hulking red head of a man.  
  
"Papa!" Gordo cried. "That injun attacked us." he lied. "Look what he did to Morgy's nose!"  
  
"Lier!" J.D. accused. "You took my ball!"  
  
Gordo grinned, fishing the small ball out of his pocket. "This?" he teased. "This's you stole from me."  
  
"That's a damn lie! Buck bought that for J.D." Vin snapped, but the father redhead threw him back against the fence beside his little brother.   
  
"You stinkin' injun bastard callin' ma son a lier?" he growled, towering over the two small boys.  
  
Despite the ache in his back caused by slamming into the fence, Vin straightened up as tall as he could and glared up at the man, bravely meeting him eye to eye. "No, sir. Ah'm callin' him a lier AND a thief." he answered almost calmly.  
  
The father's hand snapped out, grabbing Vin by the shirt front and holding him still while his big hand raised up to strike him. "'bout time somebody teach ya little Larabee bastards yer proper place."  
  
"Friend, you sure as hell better be straightenin' his collar." Josiah Sanchez growled from the street end of the alley.   
  
The father instantly released Vin, stepping away from the boy. "Your kid brother's causin' trouble 'gain, Preacher. Ya oughta send 'im 'way to one of them reservations with the rest of the animals. Look what he did to ma boy!"  
  
Josiah glanced at Morgon's bloody nose, then looked over J.D's bruised and cut body, and the bruises around Vin's throat. "Doesn't look like it was all one sided to me." Josiah observed. "I do assure you, though, friend, fighting is not allowed in our family. Vin and J.D. will be receiving a long talkin' too... as I'm sure you have planned for your own boys."  
  
Cragon McPhearson looked at his sons. "What the hell do ah have to talk to them for? Beatin' the crap out of an injun? Hell, ah'd be upset if they kicked the dog. But an injun?"  
  
"Vin!" Josiah said quickly, catching his brother's attention before the little hot head leaped at the man. he was actually thankful for Vin's quick temper. It was enough of a distraction that he, himself, didn't leap at the man.   
  
What he didn't expect was little J.D.'s temper. "But it ain't fair, 'siah! Gorgy stole my ball. An' he pushed me."  
  
"Did not!" Gorgo yelled back in what was becoming the two younger boys' preferred form of communication.  
  
"Did too!" J.D. yelled back   
  
"Ya little brat!" Cragon spun on J.D, raising his arm for a back hand slap. "Don't you call ma son a lier!"  
  
Vin quickly stepped between J.D. and his attacker, but it was Josiah who had stopped him.   
  
Catching the big man's wrist in his own big hand, Josiah spun him around to face him. Stepping close so his face was only a breath from Cragon's, he growled "You really do not want to do that! Friend!"  
  
Cragon smiled. "Careful, Preacher. Ya don't pass off the same scare yer brother does. Ya ain't no Chris Larabee." he warned. "Ya don't have that killer stinch."  
  
Josiah took a step closer, forcing Cragon to stumbled back against the wall. Leaning close, he growled "Don't mistake me for trying to instill fear. I do not believe in using fear as a weapon. In fact, I don't care much for violence in and of itself." Leaning even closer. "But, mark my words, McPhearson, if you ever, EVER, raise your hand to a child again, my brother or another, I will personally rip! it! off!"   
  
"Ya threatenin' me, Preacher?" Cragon growled back, though it didn't hold the same arrogant strength it had before.  
  
"Consider it an ultimatum." Josiah stepped back. "Vin! J.D.! Wagon! Now!"  
  
Vin snatched J.D.'s arm and practically dragged him down the alley. Josiah waited until they were free and clear before turning to follow. He stopped when he saw the small ball in Gorgo's hand. he smiled. "Why, Gorgo, you found J.D.'s ball? What a good boy you are. I'm sure he'll be happy to see it." He held his hand out, waiting for the toy to be returned.  
  
Gorgo looked up at his father, waiting for him to protest.  
  
But Cragon nodded once toward Josiah. "Give it back, Gorgy." he mumbled.  
  
"But, pa..." Morgon screeched.  
  
"Do as ah say, boy!" Cragon snapped.  
  
Pouting, Gorgo dropped the ball into Josiah's hand.   
  
"Thank you. Come by after church Sunday and we'll have a ball game. What do you say? You too Morgon." Josiah offered.   
  
After a glare from their father, both boys hung their heads, mumbling "Yes, sir."  
  
Again Josiah smiled, then followed his brothers. Last he heard was Morgon demanding of Cragon "Why didn't ya box 'im, Pa? Ya shoulda boxed 'im!" followed by Cragon's snarled "Shut up!"  
  
Vin and J.D. were right where he told them to be, sitting on the supplies in their wagon. As were Nathan and Ezra. Nathan was wiping the blood from Vin's knuckles, moving the fingers, and checking for any serious damage. J.D. was safely tucked under Ezra's arm, Ezra gently comforting him while checking his bruises and cuts.  
  
Vin looked up at Josiah then quickly away. He knew he was in trouble, but he didn't care... much. His throat hurt and his knuckles, and a few ribs...   
  
J.D. on the other hand, leaped to his brother's defense. "Please, 'siah! Don't send Vin away to no riveration! He was only lookin' after me! You told 'im to!"  
  
Both Nathan and Ezra's eyes snapped up at the indication that their brother might be sent away. "Riveration?" Nathan wondered.  
  
"Reservation?" Ezra made the correct guess.  
  
"No one is being sent away." Josiah promised. He reached into the wagon to give Vin's knee a reassuring pat. "Vin is right where he belongs."  
  
The gray eyes flickered up to look at him. After a moment, Vin offered a shy smile, then looked away again.  
  
Josiah smiled back. "What do you say we get home? I'm sure Chris and Buck can't wait to hear about our day."  
  
Vin groaned.  
  
Again Josiah smiled. If Vin was groaning about facing Chris, he wasn't too bad off.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~ 


End file.
